Work, Learn & Explore: an action-packed experience
Each day of the Beacon Fellowship follows a similar structure, but no day is the same. During the Beacon experience, Fellows gain valuable insights about consulting, their career paths, and the new city in which they are immersed, learning from their McKinsey/Bain/BCG Project Lead and their Site Manager.
Beacon’s international Site Managers are well-versed in the local culture and optimize the experience for the Fellows 24/7, providing safety resources, travel guidance, and recommendations for culturally enriching experiences. Fellowship locations include Madrid, Barcelona, Geneva, Washington, D.C., among others. As global hubs, each city offers a unique cultural and business landscape for Fellows to explore. Learn more about current locations & dates here.
Your first week might look something like this
Weekdays: Project work & training
The majority of the learning on the Fellowship occurs on action-packed weekdays. Beacon Fellows rise and eat breakfast, normally leaving together for the client or work site around 8am. Once they arrive, Fellows will often meet as a team with their Project Lead to align for the day and then break up into smaller teams for their assigned tasks.
Training on core consulting skills like PowerPoint, problem-solving, & Excel occurs according to a schedule set by the Project Lead, but often happens first thing in the morning. This enables students to focus on the training while their minds are freshest and allows them the opportunity to practice those skills for the rest of the day.
After a break for lunch, often in teams or as a group, Beacon Fellows reconvene for the afternoon, where they may continue research in a particular area, build a slide deck, or have interviews with client representatives or customers to gather more data. At the end of the day, the Project Lead may request an update from each Beacon Fellow, with a more formal weekly update at the of each week.
Working on a real project over the course of a few days or weeks can be intense, but Beacon Fellows usually finish around 5 or 5:30pm, leaving them ample time to rest, refuel, & enjoy the evening before beginning again the next day.
Project Lead Bonnie, Harvard MBA & Bain alumna (4th from right), with Fellows at BaseKX client site in London.
Weekends: Free time
In addition to the valuable international business & consulting experience that Beacon Fellows gain abroad, the Beacon Fellowship also aims to foster the development of a cultural perspective. On weekends, project work is put on hold, allowing Beacon Fellows to immerse themselves in the history, art, and culture of the city around them.
By exploring their host city, engaging with locals, and enjoying the delights and challenges of an immersive experience, Beacon Fellows deepen and broaden their understanding of the people and lifestyles that shape the business environment. Navigating a new city or country is not always easy; however, different languages, customs, and standards of living develop in Beacon Fellows the important traits of flexibility and comfort with ambiguity.
Every Friday, Fellows have the option to participate in an organized excursion to a nearby city or local attraction such as a museum, park or historic site.
